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A review by talknerdybookblog
Violent Heart by Candace Wondrak
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
No strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.
It felt like Violent Heart was a missed opportunity for a more emotionally visceral conclusion. To illustrate, Lola's scene where she finally confronts her brother felt anti-climatic; I honestly skimmed that whole chapter. Also, for how great the set-up was concerning the vulnerable place Lola and her men were in the crime world in the last two books, it felt like the solution was way too easy. It wasn't convincing, and I felt like the author could've used some of the decisions she made in the first book to make the book a more emotionally harrowing journey for the main characters.
For example,Maddox's and Sylvester's father refuses to meet Lola in the first book. I originally thought that their dad was her tormentor, and if that was true, wouldn't it have been amazing to see this struggle where the guys have to choose between their father and the girl they're in love with? There were quite a few opportunities like this that would've pushed the characters to undergo an emotional transformation. Yet, the author never went there. Also, the way the author dealt with Maddox's and Sylvester's father's dilemma (Lola did kill his youngest child) felt like a massive cop-out.
Overall, because none of the characters felt any moral dilemma about the violence or murder they commit, the series struggled to make me care for them. None of them really went through any emotional journey. Even as Lola struggled to come to terms with loving her men – ditto Maddox with Lola – it went from 'I don't care if I die' to 'shit, I think I love them'... essentially, instant acceptance. I had high hopes that this book and the second would develop and deepen the emotional connection between Lola and her men, but at the end of the series, it still felt quite superficial; I didn't believe they were in love. And, because they're all psychopaths, the fact that they were willing to commit horrible crimes for each other means that it isn't something special.
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions
• No cheating
• No OW drama
• Not serious OM drama
– Heroine is attracted to Lincoln from the Cruel Black Hearts series; she flirts with him in front of her boyfriends. Nothing happens, but the men are not pleased.
• No pushing away
• No separation
Possible Triggers: YES
• Murder
– Heroine is a serial killer and doesn't really care if her victims are actually bad guys (she only kills men, though)
– All the men in this book kill people
• Gratuitous violence, including blood and gore
– Includes rough sex; there's also one scene with knife-play and two with strangling
• Suicidal ideation, including a suicide attempt
• R@pe, including incest
• Forced sterilization
Ending:HFN
It felt like Violent Heart was a missed opportunity for a more emotionally visceral conclusion. To illustrate, Lola's scene where she finally confronts her brother felt anti-climatic; I honestly skimmed that whole chapter. Also, for how great the set-up was concerning the vulnerable place Lola and her men were in the crime world in the last two books, it felt like the solution was way too easy. It wasn't convincing, and I felt like the author could've used some of the decisions she made in the first book to make the book a more emotionally harrowing journey for the main characters.
For example,
Overall, because none of the characters felt any moral dilemma about the violence or murder they commit, the series struggled to make me care for them. None of them really went through any emotional journey. Even as Lola struggled to come to terms with loving her men – ditto Maddox with Lola – it went from 'I don't care if I die' to 'shit, I think I love them'... essentially, instant acceptance. I had high hopes that this book and the second would develop and deepen the emotional connection between Lola and her men, but at the end of the series, it still felt quite superficial; I didn't believe they were in love. And, because they're all psychopaths, the fact that they were willing to commit horrible crimes for each other means that it isn't something special.
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions
• No cheating
• No OW drama
• Not serious OM drama
– Heroine is attracted to Lincoln from the Cruel Black Hearts series; she flirts with him in front of her boyfriends. Nothing happens, but the men are not pleased.
• No pushing away
• No separation
Possible Triggers: YES
• Murder
– Heroine is a serial killer and doesn't really care if her victims are actually bad guys (she only kills men, though)
– All the men in this book kill people
• Gratuitous violence, including blood and gore
– Includes rough sex; there's also one scene with knife-play and two with strangling
• Suicidal ideation, including a suicide attempt
• R@pe, including incest
• Forced sterilization
Ending: